Trust-based wealth management plans are
growing in popularity.According to one
recent survey, more than half of families whose wealth exceeds $5 million
already employ a trust for asset management. More than a third of families
whose wealth falls into the $1 million to $5 million range have a trust.

The
success of a trust plan depends crucially upon the choice of trustee.Initially, one might be tempted to choose a
family member. However, the position of trustee, like the position of executor
of an estate, is not simply an honorary one.Trusteeship involves a range of duties that can be surprisingly complex,
including:

•
asset management;

•
tax planning and compliance;

•
discretionary administration;

•
trust accounting; and

•
fulfillment of the trust’s role in a family’s wealth management plan.

Few
individuals, even the most talented, will be able to satisfy all these
roles.The better alternative is to
employ a corporate fiduciary—such as us!We have a team approach, a collection of professionals who are
knowledgeable about the complete range of issues associated with sound trust
management.We have experience in up and
down financial cycles, as well as with a broad array of family financial
circumstances.Trusteeship is our full-time
job, and so our clients enjoy our full attention to their trust management.

Our
skills as trustee come into play with special force when we are called upon to
settle an estate.Death can be a
traumatic time for a family, and difficult decisions should be avoided during a
period of grieving. But many tax and financial matters will not wait.We can help.

The
one positive of choosing an individual as one’s trustee is that the individual
may already know the family well, and may understand some of the family’s
underlying financial dynamics. However, this apparent advantage may be offset
by the appearance of partiality if some family members become unhappy over the
implementation of the plan.A trustee is
required by law to be impartial, to take the interests of all trust
beneficiaries into account when making trust management decisions.A corporate trustee, such as us, may be more
easily able to persuade all family members that decisions are free of bias.

In
some cases, both an individual and a corporate trustee will be named as
co-trustees.Such an approach, if it is
taken collaboratively, can provide for continuity and balance in family wealth
management.